<p>Abomasnow is unique in the fact that it is the only automatic weather setter in UU. With its ability, Snow Warning, Abomasnow can summon hail for teams that can utilize it to flourish in. That's not all Abomasnow has going for it; it has solid base 92 offensive stats and great offensive options to utilize them with. Abomasnow also has decent defenses to boot, and when combined with key resistances to Water-, Electric-, and Ground-types, Abomasnow can serve as a decent defensive Pokemon that can check threats such as Raikou and Kingdra. However, the fun ends there. Abomasnow has seven crippling weaknesses, not including its weakness to Stealth Rock, which greatly hinder its survivability. A low Speed stat isn't doing it any favors either; many things can outspeed and beat Abomasnow before it can react. Its offensive stats, while solid, are not exactly stellar, so it may not hit hard enough at times. Despite these flaws, Abomasnow makes for a great asset to any hail team in the UU tier.</p>

<p>Abomasnow's best set is a SubSeed set. With decent bulk and good resistances, Abomasnow can set up Leech Seed on threats such as Raikou, Krookodile, and Slowbro. Abomasnow can wear down the opponent with its automatic hail combined with Leech Seed, making it a solid staller. Unlike other SubSeed users, Abomasnow also has Ice STAB to handle Grass-types that typically stop this strategy cold. Substitute is the first move of this set, as it allows Abomasnow to avoid status while setting up Leech Seed for free and thus recover any HP lost. Leech Seed is important to this set's success as well, as Abomasnow aims to wear down the opponent with hail and Leech Seed while also providing itself with a decent form of recovery. Blizzard is Abomasnow's best STAB move, as it cannot miss under hail, while also dishing out a solid amount of damage. Wood Hammer is chosen as its Grass-type STAB to maim things that don't mind Blizzard, as well as Snorlax and SubCM Raikou. However, Giga Drain is an alternative that's useful as a recovery move and also sports a decent Base Power.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The EV spread is specially defensive to allow Abomasnow to check Electric- and Water-types such as Raikou and Suicune and overall take more advantage of Abomasnow's typing. Depending on what move Abomasnow runs for a Grass STAB, either a Calm or Sassy Nature is needed to maximize Special Defense. Leftovers is there as an extra source of recovery, as Abomasnow lacks any outside of Leech Seed. Protect is a useful option over Wood Hammer or Giga Drain to rack up the hail and Leech Seed damage while also damaging Mienshao.</p>

<p>Mienshao is a good teammate to handle opposing Steel-types while not minding hail. Because Abomasnow hates entry hazards of all kinds, Blastoise and Claydol are both useful to remove them while sporting useful defensive type synergy. Xatu is also a usable choice to bounce back entry hazards while spreading paralysis, allowing Abomasnow to stall more easily. Slowbro, Escavalier, and Nidoqueen all have excellent defensive synergy with Abomasnow and can work well in hail, while the latter can take advantage of hail itself with Blizzard. Since Abomasnow summons hail, an Ice-type is ideal to take advantage of it; Rotom-F and Walrein are common hail sweepers that should be used in conjunction with Abomasnow.</p>

<p>Abomasnow has good mixed attacking stats and a solid offensive movepool, which allow it to serve as a great mixed attacker. It has excellent coverage with its two STABs alone, and it can break common defensive Pokemon such as Slowbro and Gligar thanks to its mixed attacking prowess. Blizzard serves as primary Ice STAB, packing a great amount of power while boasting perfect accuracy in hail. Wood Hammer is an excellent secondary STAB, hitting Pokemon that resist Blizzard hard while also helping against Snorlax. Giga Drain, however, is useful for recovery while still being decently powerful. Earthquake is a useful coverage move, nailing threats such as Darmanitan and Bisharp, which resist Abomasnow's STABs, for super effective damage. Focus Punch, however, is useful to catch incoming Snorlax if Giga Drain is chosen, while still being useful against Bisharp. Finally, Ice Shard is chosen to pick off weakened opponents and to revenge kill Flygon.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The Speed EVs aim to outspeed minimum Speed Blastoise, an important benchmark to hit. Attack is maximized with this EV spread and a Lonely nature is used to deal significant damage to Snorlax, while the remaining EVs are dumped into Special Attack. To be able to effectively revenge kill Flygon, Abomasnow should not invest any lower than 140 EVs in Attack. An Expert Belt is chosen to make good use of Abomasnow's excellent coverage while not wearing it down like a Life Orb would do. Because Abomasnow summons hail, Rotom-F and Walrein are good partners to take advantage of it. Blastoise, Claydol, and Cryogonal are useful to provide Rapid Spin support for Abomasnow, as it dislikes all kinds of entry hazards. Slowbro, Escavalier, and Nidoqueen are useful thanks to their synergy with Abomasnow, while also being able to make good use of the hail themselves. Weather Ball Raikou can also make use of the hail. Mienshao can take care of Steel-types for Abomasnow while not being bothered by the hail thanks to Regenerator. Finally, Xatu is a usable option to bounce back entry hazards and spread paralysis.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Abomasnow has a number of other options at its disposal. It has Focus Punch, which it can run a SubPunch set with, but this is rather situational due to Abomasnow's mediocre defensive typing. It can run a Choice Scarf to revenge kill Pokemon such as Nidoqueen and Honchkrow, but it is far too slow to make effective use of it; for example, even with the boost, it barely misses out on outpacing base 115 Speed Pokemon such as Raikou and Azelf. Abomasnow has a couple of other physical moves such as Avalanche, Double-Edge, and Rock Slide. It can also run Swords Dance, but again, it is too slow to make use of the move. Abomasnow also can run Hidden Power and Shadow Ball as semi-decent coverage moves. Finally, it has some useful support moves such as Toxic and Light Screen, which can be useful to wear down bulkier opponents and soften special hits, respectively.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Fire-types, such as Chandelure, Darmanitan, and Victini, are by far Abomasnow's worst nightmare, as they resist both of its STAB moves and hit it super effectively. They must, however, be wary of an incoming Earthquake. Steel-types such as Escavalier and Bisharp are also notable, hitting Abomasnow hard with their STAB moves while again resisting both of its STABs. Flying-types such as Crobat, Togekiss, and Yanmega can check Abomasnow thanks to their STAB hitting it super effectively; however, a Blizzard or Ice Shard can deal serious damage to them on the switch. Fighting-types such as Mienshao and Heracross can hit Abomasnow before it reacts. Snorlax can come in on most of what Abomasnow has to offer aside from Wood Hammer or Focus Punch and retaliate with Fire Punch, Body Slam, or Return. Constant pressure from entry hazards will also quickly shorten Abomasnow's life thanks to its weakness to Stealth Rock. In short, taking advantage of Abomasnow's numerous weaknesses is the best way to remove it. However, the way to remove Abomasnow's hail is to change the weather by the use of Pokemon such as Prankster Tornadus, and to a lesser extent, Volbeat.</p>

On the mixed attacker, you say that wood hammer is great for suicune, blastoise and slowbro, who basically all invest in physifql defense. With that in mind, why not simply use Grass Knot or Giga Drain and make Abomasnow specially based, with enough attack to ko flygon with ice shard? Wood hammer is doing diddlt squat to chansey anyway and will probably hurt you more than her. I get that wood hammer is strong, but tbh i dont see the benefits or it over a special grass move

On the mixed attacker, you say that wood hammer is great for suicune, blastoise and slowbro, who basically all invest in physifql defense. With that in mind, why not simply use Grass Knot or Giga Drain and make Abomasnow specially based, with enough attack to ko flygon with ice shard? Wood hammer is doing diddlt squat to chansey anyway and will probably hurt you more than her. I get that wood hammer is strong, but tbh i dont see the benefits or it over a special grass move

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I might as well consider that. And there is no need to mention Chansey-it was quickbanned into BL last Sunday.

Moderator

Agreeing with Cherub Agent, most Water-types invest heavily in physical defense so a special Grass-type move is better (frankly I'd use Giga Drain since it's a means of recovery and Grass Knot isn't that much powerful against its targets anyway, except for the incredibly heavy Suicune lol). Also, I used Earthquake to have it act as a secondary check to Raikou w/o Aura Sphere (mainly SubCM), it needs 283 Attack EVs to KO it after SR and one turn of Hail in case you're planning on giving it a more special bias.

In a similar topic, I don't like the EVs of the SubSeed set. It can't set up on much, which is why I'd strongly suggest you invest heavily in Speed, to at least get min Speed Blastoise again (148 EVs are needed) so as to prevent it from Toxicing you. Actually, that benchmark should be for all sets except for Scarf imo. What I'd do is max HP, put enough Speed for Blastoise and the rest in Special Attack, but that's up discussion.

I also find the lack of a Choice Scarf set disturbing, I haven't actually tried it but it could be useful even in UU where there aren't weather wars, so I wouldn't dismiss it so quickly. It also has a good surprise effect against stuff that think can KO you, such as LO Nidoking—it can also beat Tornadus iirc.

Every set and the overview needs to place more emphasis on Abomasnow's ability to reliably switch into and check Water-types, which is (from my experience) one of its main strengths.

Mixed Attacker:

- The EVs are inefficient, as its SpA is higher than its Attack (which gets the nature boost). A Mild nature with 204 Atk and 156 SpA has one more point in Special Attack with the same Attack; it's minor, but there's no reason not to use that spread instead.
- Earthquake also probably deserves to be the first slash over Hidden Power Fire; Darmanitan/Chandelure/Victini (who resist everything else on the set) are both more prevalent and more immediately threatening than Bronzong/Escavalier/Bisharp; it's also stronger against Snorlax, who can otherwise switch into anything, and you really never want to give free switch-ins to a Choice Bander.
- You also haven't mentioned any KOs that Expert Belt secures.
- What exactly is Ice Shard supposed to hit? I think it could be slashed or replaced with Substitute or a coverage move (Earthquake/HP Fire).

SubSeed:

- Wood Hammer is the first slash for the fourth slot, but the first nature slash is Calm.
- It's also worth mentioning that Wood Hammer hits Snorlax on its weaker side, but vice versa for every Water-type except boosted Suicune.
- In any case, Giga Drain + 148 Spe should be the main set with Sassy + Wood Hammer in AC.
- Mention teammates that can use Toxic Spikes in AC.

Choice Band:

- Emphasize how it beats common switch-ins, most notably Fire-types (with Earthquake) and Snorlax (with Focus Punch), which can pave the way for a sweep.
- 184 Speed EVs; 84 only outspeeds minimum speed Bisharp (which is nonexistent), Hitmontop, Umbreon (which can be outsped with 44), Swampert, and Porygon2 (which can both be outsped with 4).

Wood Hammer is better than Grass Knot/Giga Drain. It has much higher base power (which means it does a shitton more to neutral switch-ins), it's stronger against Blastoise, and it 2HKOes CB Snorlax with Hail damage. The damage output is only slightly less against Suicune and Slowbro, but they cant beat you anyway. Focus Punch is a pretty good option if you opt to use Giga Drain instead of Wood Hammer, since it lets you OHKO Snorlax on the switch, and deal upwards of 70% to Umbreon. The EVs let you OHKO Flygon with Ice Shard and outspeed min Blastoise, with the remainder in Special Attack.

The subseeder should be using a spread of 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe with a Sassy nature and Wood Hammer slashed before Calm nature and Giga Drain. It needs full investment in Special Defense so it can tank Raikou, Shaymin, Cofag, and [insert Bulky Water] more effectively. Wood Hammer should be the primary choice so you can actually beat CM Raikou.

As for the CB set, the fourth slot should just be filled with Ice Punch since Focus punch has redundant coverage with Earthquake and it doesn't prevent you from being walled by Bronzong at all. Its EVs should be 54 Hp / 252 Atk / 204 Spe to get the jump on minimum speed base 85's.

Moderator

The problem with Wood Hammer is that the recoil is nasty if you aren't using Leftovers, either slash Lefties first or change the order of your secondary STAB and mention Leftovers as another item it can run, at least Giga Drain gives you a form of recovery... Also that EV spread is weird, if you're running three physical moves you should invest more in Attack—like, enough to KO Raikou after SR and Hail with Earthquake, or something like that—imo. The spread yields 280 Atk and 275 SpA, unless the Special Attack EVs guarantee Blizzard does something I'd rather go with max Atk.

Mention an alternate spread in the SubSeeder of 248 HP / 112 SpD / 148 Spe Calm when using Giga Drain, to be able to switch into Blastoise's Scald and Sub up before it Toxic's you. In case he has Dragon Tail over Roar, that works even better since it can't phaze you on the predicted Substitute.

EDIT: Feel free to disregard my comment on Wood Hammer, I had just woken up and the notion '2HKOes Offensive Snorlax after Hail' didn't really get to me. That's definitely big, considering how well it does to get rid of Lax for later Blizzspamming, so yea, Wood Hammer is worth it even if it means you'll die to recoil—I still wouldn't switch Lax into Aboma without knowing whether it was a SubSeeder or not, but that's just me. I'm still rather adamant on the fact that not maxing Attack when running three physical moves is rather silly, but you can defend the given spread if you want to.

With Ernesto's post in mind, use the set I posted with an EV Spread of 252 Atk / 108 SpA / 148 Spe. In AC, mention that 140 Atk EVs is the minimum you should run should you choose to focus on Special Attack with Giga Drain > Wood Hammer. (140 Atk EVs to OHKO Flygon with Ice Shard)

Mention an alternate spread in the SubSeeder of 248 HP / 112 SpD / 148 Spe Calm when using Giga Drain, to be able to switch into Blastoise's Scald and Sub up before it Toxic's you. In case he has Dragon Tail over Roar, that works even better since it can't phaze you on the predicted Substitute.

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Dragon Tail has -6 priority so it goes last regardless of whether Aboma is slower than Blastoise or not. I'm fine with this spread being in AC, although its use is rather limited and Blastoise is more likely to use Roar, or just switch out.

Implement everything else I said in my previous post, and change the set order so it's 1) SubSeed 2) Mixed Attacker 3)Choice Band. Also, Protect deserves an AC mention for the SubSeed set, it's really useful for racking up Hail/Leech Seed damage and scouting choiced attackers. Put Choice Scarf in Other Options, Abomasnow is too slow to make proper use of a Scarf set, and it doesn't even outrun +115's after the boost.

Moderator

What I meant to say with Dragon Tail was that, if the Blastoise user were to predict you to use Substitute—because he saw your Lefties recovery or whatever—with Roar it could make you effectively waste 25% of Aboma's health for nothing, while D-Tail couldn't break your Sub should WS Venomoth become more popular. Of course, the Blastoise user would be taking a huge unnecessary risk, but that's a different situation. Other than that, thank you for taking my thoughts into consideration!

Implement everything else I said in my previous post, and change the set order so it's 1) SubSeed 2) Mixed Attacker 3)Choice Band. Also, Protect deserves an AC mention for the SubSeed set, it's really useful for racking up Hail/Leech Seed damage and scouting choiced attackers. Put Choice Scarf in Other Options, Abomasnow is too slow to make proper use of a Scarf set, and it doesn't even outrun +115's after the boost.

AC is for specific counters that work exceptionally well against a particular set, general checks and counters like Darmanitan and Bronzong belong in C&C. Don't mention Mandibuzz as a teammate, it is completely irrelevant in UU. You need to add Rotom-F, Walrein, Slowbro, Escavalier and Nidoqueen - Rotom-F and Walrein are two of the best Hail abusers in the tier, and Slowbro, Escavalier, and Nidoqueen are commonly seen on Hail teams for their ability to benefit from/support Hail teams. You may also want to mention that Weather Ball Raikou is incredibly dangerous in Hail, because it can run Thunderbolt / HP Grass / Weather Ball to beat all of its usual counters, but it dies quickly to residual damage. You also need to expand your C&C section quite a lot before I can approve this, it's far too skimpy right now.

Add more emphasis on the need for a spinner on the CB set. Abomasnow's inability to switch moves and bounce in and out of a match due to its Stealth Rock weakness really hurts it. I'd also add mention of Xatu - it's not the ideal teammate, but it can keep entry hazards away from Abomasnow and can spread Paralysis, which "fixes" Abomasnow's paltry speed.

Choice Band seems really unnecessary. I can't think of a single instance where you would need the extra power to facilitate a KO on a wall. You aren't breaking Bronzong regardless of what item you hold, Slowbro is going to fall to it regardless of what it does and so is Gligar. Snorlax is 2HKO'd with or without CB... Umbreon is too with Stealth Rock on the field. You actually fare BETTER against Zapdos because before, Ice Punch would fail to KO Zapdos and it could start Roost stalling. Now, you can Ice Punch and then use Earthquake when it tries to Roost (CB OHKO'ing Zapdos when Rocks are on the field is a moot point, Ice Punch + Ice Shard KOs Zapdos without retaliation, so in that scenario they both essentially "OHKO").

They both OHKO Flygon with Ice Shard, they both fail to KO Crobat after Stealth Rocks, so there goes the argument that "CB can revenge better". Honestly, I can't think of a single compelling case for Choice Band. I would never use it. If i was using 4 attack physical attacking, I would use Leftovers 100% of the time.

I think this choice scarfed set should be mentioned, because it provides counters to bulky waters. It also gets the drop on Zapdos, Tornadus, Honchkroww, Nidos, with OhKOing to 2HKOing them(some other too that I'm probably forgetting)

Leech Seed is great because you're luring stuff like Snorlax in and recovering like 20% HP off it. I guess Swords Dance is a good alternative, although I haven't tried it. EV's are to outspeed min Blastoise. You could bump it to Suicune and Gligar line, but the former isn't staying in on you and I'd rather hit Gligar super-effectively with Wood Hammer if it's Roosting so I don't think that's too necessary.
I really like this set, the biggest problem is it can't switch into Scalds, so I guess Lum Berry could be AC'd. Being purely physical allows Aboma to take less damage from Earthquakes, which I find really compelling.

In my opinion this deserves to be a main set, I'll have to talk to koko and RT about it. After that I'll stamp this, sorry for the long wait!